Piper of Azathoth

It's the day before Halloween and you don't have a costume. Matteo Bocci just might be able to help with this look at how to build a tentacled Piper of Azathoth. The post is in Italian, but Mr. Bocci was kind enough to send over a translation.

"I played a “Cthulhu Live” session back in 2000, and I had the opportunity to create a cthulhoid puppet representing one of the flutists who play blasphemous melodies before the throne of Azathoth. Ten years later, the live and the puppet are back, revised and corrected.

The costume is mounted on an armor constructed of PVC pipe and scraps of metal mesh usually used for fencing, all held together by glue, string, and hopes ... Hopes fortunately well placed, since the structure has held up without collapsing on one of my friends who heroically volunteered to drive the beast (thanks, Luca !!!).

The head and front of the creature are made of papier mache on a base of foam, kept in shape with string tension. The eyes are two frisbee properly painted, which are glued on the two half-spheres (found in potato chips years ago). The wattles of the beast are in cloth, with the addition of some detail in paper mache. The many tentacles are made from transparent plastic bubble-wrap. Everything was then painted with the dry brush technique.

Unfortunately, due to the limited space available and the difficulty of transporting the costume, I had to opt for simple pieces of cloth dyed with bleach to cover up the armor and the "pilot" of the creature, giving up (even due to time matters) the idea of making a more defined body shape.

The final effect, considering also the low lights during the game, was still great.

The face of the beast and its tentacles are painted with a layer of phosphorescent paint, completely transparent to light but glowing in the dark."